The Fallen Angel and the Death God
Nori grumbled to himself angrily. Why the hell did this always happen!? "Go to the Yuurei Oukoku for reconnaissance! Don't come back until you've gathered enough information!" he repeated nastily, nearly seething with anger. The realm here was annoyingly modern, as well.. Storming down the sidewalk, he pretended not to notice actual cars in the spirit world. "What a bitch, I hope she burns in Hell! Wait..." Nori reconsidered his words. She was already in Hell. Whenever she died she got sent back to Hell. But it was still technically possible for her to burn in Hell! Right? If she walked into that sea of lava she told him about, she would burn. So yeah, burn in Hell! A small sigh escaped the man's lips. Was there really a point to this, anyway? It wouldn't matter what the place looked like after legions of Demons came invaded, raped all the women children, killed the men, then killed the women and children, took over, and then claimed the entire realm for Bael. At this time, the city was, unfortunately for the irate Nori, hustling and bustling. Due to the crowds of people constantly moving, he was forced to walk with the impatient flow of the citizens. From a short distance, there were a few cloaked men, otherwise known as the officers, that kept up a vigilant patrol of the area, eyes constantly surveying for any sign of peace-breaking. In any other time, this would've been considered normal. However, there was two differences. One was the Yuurei soldiers joining the police in the patrol. Two... the road, as well as part of the sidewalk, was faintly stained in red. Nori wasn't bothered at all by the police, soldiers, or the sidewalk. What annoyed him most was the people. The next person that bumped into him was going to get smacked. It wasn't like they had to get where they were going so badly that they had to push their little bony fingers against his back whenever he lowered his pace. Grunting in frustration, Nori headed off of the main sidewalk and into a smaller alleyway. He needed to calm down. If he blew his cover Envy would be less than pleased. But it wasn't as if she could punish him badly. He already had less than nothing to his name... Well, he had his room, but there was nothing in it. If she took his bed he would just sleep on the floor... this train of thought was pointless. He had to get back to the task at hand! Grunting slightly, Nori attempted to push his way back into the endless stream of pedestrians. He was starting to approach a section of the road that was closed off, soldiers guarding it like a wall. Two of them were having a conversation that his ears could pick up as he made his way through the crowd. "Did you hear what happened?" One of them asked. "About what?" "The shit that went down here a few weeks ago. One of those outsider Shinigami started the mess, according to the commander. Hell, did you know that he had an entire platoon of officers slain by his own bodyguard?" "No shit. What for?" "Not being able to put one little bitch out of her misery." A chuckle. "Only one? They should've been given a punishment worse than being shot in the face!" "I know, right?" "...?" An incident? Maybe that would explain why there was so much additional military on patrol, along with the smell and the faint red coloring of the streets.. Still, it wasn't as if he hadn't witnessed more gruesome things in Hell... Someone bumped into Nori's back. Anger was welling up inside of him. Maybe he should just walk faster... No, that wasn't it! These people! It was the people! No one so be in so much of a hurry to get to somewhere they hate! Smack! As promised, Nori spun around and smacked the person immediately behind him. "Asshole.." The person abruptly fell to the ground, yelling in pain as he clutched his face. A chain reaction started. THe people around him gasped in shock and horror, slowly backing away from the volatile man in order to avoid getting hit. But their noises, in turn, alerted the patrol around him, and thanks to their adaptive minds, they immediately realized what happened. The clink of several rifles was heard, their barrels pointing straight at Nori's head and ready to fire. One of the officers even had the audacity to hold his own gun point-blank behind Nori. "Citizen, you have just violated Law Number 8." His voice monologued. "You are hereby placed under arrest, by order of the Yuurei Oukoku police, as well as the word of The King. Come along quietly, and no force will have to be used." Nori, being careful not to use any hostile or agressive movements, carefully began to survey the scene around him. Apparently, an overly-dramatic citizen witnessed him strike the man behind him, who's unwarrented self-importance had caused him to bump into Nori as he hurried to wherever the hell he was going. This, in turn, alerted the police, etcetera, and now he was screwed over. "If you don't mind, sir, could you please explain to me the penalty for violating Law Number 8? I can't recall it." he stated smoothly, being careful not to move an inch while adressing the officer behind him. "That should have been made clear to you when you first entered this city. You should have been handed a piece of paper listing the major laws of Yuurei." Nori's eyes dulled. "I did not say that I did not receive paper detailing the laws. I said that I could not recall the penalty for violating them." he rebuttled. "The penalty for violation is to be taken to headquarters for questioning." The officer's ready reply was. "A possible sentence would be three days in local prison, considering your offense was minor." A sigh escaped Nori's lips. This was unacceptable. His body effectively turned red then vanished, leaving the faint smell of smoke in the air. If he was lucky, maybe they'd believe he was disintegrated. Peeking over the edge of the roof of a building nearby, he giggled, watching the scene fold out. The officer who had been holding him hostage immediately started blinking, eyes darting around in bewilderment. "W...what?!" He stuttered, aiming his gun around in a vain attempt to search for the man. "Where'd he go?!" Other officers began to do the same thing, though in a less... stupid... manner. The soldiers, however, seemed to be looking on at them in amusement, and even one of them had the gall to laugh. "Wow. I didn't know the police were so incompetent. Maybe we should get Suki back here to finish you off, hm?" It taunted. Angrily, the officer rounded on the solder. "Shut the fuck up! If you're so smart, why don't you find him?!" He snarled. "Ugh... I'm so bored of it now." Nori groaned. Maybe he should have some fun! Starting out as a faint red outline, he appeared in front of the soilder that had just taunted the officer and kicked him in the groin. Then, once again, he disapeared and returned to the rooftop. This was going to be entertaining! "GGGH!" Immediately, the poor grunt let out a scream of pain and fell to the ground, clutching his family jewels in a desperate attempt to dull the pain. A few of the officers couldn't help but laugh out loud at the misfortune. The citizens that were looking on before in fear had now burst out into outright laughter, pointing at the fallen and rather furious trooper as he struggled to stand. A fierce and mighty soldier quelled by the simple kick to the private parts! However, the soldiers were not so distracted. Their eyes immediately, after a few seconds, swiveled in the direction of where Nori had hidden himself. They didn't speak a word, but turned their rifles upwards toward his position, aimed, and fired. Several bullets of reiatsu came flying out from the barrel and at the roof peak with deadly accuracy. Pushing his foot against the shingles of the roof, Nori launched himself backwards, moving him out of the soldiers' line-of-sight. Should he release his Zanpakuto..? Why not! "Weed out, Nasuka." he mumbled. The sheathed Zanpakuto on his back glew white and morphed into a metallic rod, then became covered in barbs. The barbs dug into his back. He grimaced. Gripping Nasuka, he slammed it into the shingles of the roof below. "Seiiku." Immediately, several roots burst out of the pavement below, wrapping themselves around the legs of the soldiers and preventing them from pursuing Nori. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" "WE'RE STUCK!!!" "AAAGH!" This time, the officers acted rationally and raced towards the officers, dropping their guns in the process in an attempt to pry off the large roots. "Tanpopo." Nori stated dully, as Dandelions sprung out of the roots restraining the officers. Without warning, then all released their seeds, forming what looked like a large white cloud around all of the officers and soldiers. Nori hoped this wouldn't kill anyone. Now, it was complete chaos. The crowd, after seeing this shocking display, went into a frenzy. The majority of their voices were portrayed in screams, and they turned tail to run away to what they considered safety. In the cloud, however, the officers and soldiers, upon their instinctive nature, stood stock still, their eyes drifting towards the cloud around them. In such a situation, they could easily assume some sort of ambush was going to happen, whether it was in the form of the opponent, or the distracting object itself. They stood, tensely, helplessly, as they waited... The boy on the roof giggled. How easy this was, toying with people!... But the soldiers and officers were still there, weren't they? They needed to be taught a lesson. He didn't need to kill them... But to permanently disfigure them would be enough. But how would he go about doing it? Nori tapped Nasuka on the roof slightly, causing the roots to dig into the soldiers' legs. It was barely deep enough to draw blood, but it did cause pain. A collection of agonized groans came from the crowd, the pain shooting through their legs like a heroin drug rushing through the veins. The soldiers were more dignified in the approach, moaning like zombies as they attempted to pull the roots loose from their legs. The officers however, were outright shouting like women in labor, some of them jerking violently in order to pull themselves free. Nori allowed himself to smile in satisfaction. The violent movements of the officers disturbed the floating seed pods immediately around them, which exploded into thorns, which disturbed the other pods. A shower of thorns engulfed everything within the cloud. The screams of the officers and soldiers were nice. At this point, Nori rotted the roots, allowing his captives free movement. They collapsed to the ground, their bodies unable to withstand the onslaught of the thorns. Some had fallen unconscious due to the pain. Others were barely alive, trying to crawl away from the scene with what little they had of their lives. Their blood started to stain the ground once more, feeding what had already been absorbed into the ground. It was a fresh aftermath of a battlefield, bodies strewn everywhere, and red liquid staining the asphalt. A horrible end. Nori sighed... Did this count as 'blowing his cover'? It wasn't as if any of the officers that witnessed him were alive... But then again, there were the citizens. Should he hunt them down and kill all of them? But it's not like I memorized all of their faces.. he mumbled in his head, groaning in frustration. Then again, if he could single-handedly wipe out the entire military, he might get rewarded! Leaping down from the building, Nasuka still in hand, Nori walked merrily down the sidewalk, whistling a happy tune. The dead soldiers on the street didn't concern him. Reinforcements? He could handle those too, if they came. Nothing could stop Nori! WHAM! But before he could do anything, something metallic connected with the back of his head, and he too fell to the ground with a THUD. Behind him was a lone soldier, lowering the butt of his rifle as he glared down at the man. "And I thought those fucking outsiders were trouble..." He mumbled, holstering his rifle. "You, my friend, are in very deep shit." He hoisted Nori over his shoulder, and walked away, several more officers moving in to pick up the mess that was left behind. Meeting Nori's eyes snapped open. Everything was blurry. Where am I now..? he wondered, though from the faint hum of an engine, and the constant vibration of the floor, he could almost certainly discern that he was inside some kind of vehicle. Had he been captured? Most likely. Shifting himself into a sitting position, Nori began to drown in self-pity. It was a rather good place to do so. All around him was a large, but desolate and empty space. He himself was in some sort of cage, with reiatsu-inhibiting steel bars surrounding him. Around that cage was several other cages, seemingly filling the entire space that was the cargo hold. Underneath all of it, the ground was slightly rumbling, signaling that the vehicle he was in was moving... presumably towards prison. "Hello..?" Nori called out nervously. If anyone else was here, they could at least supply him with some company or entertainment. No reason for them all to be sad on their way to prison.. Besides the fact that they were all going to be either imprisoned or killed. However, caught up in their own self-pity, the few prisoners in the cages around him refused to respond. In the cage in front of him, there was a lone shadowed figure who moved under his/her own cage, apparently having been sleeping. A feminine groan told him that the prisoner in front was of female gender. This was boring. Nori kicked the wall of his cage facing the woman, making more noise then necessary in an attempt to agitate her. He would have some form of entertainment here, whether it was a polite conversation, or an argument. Besides, it wasn't as if she could harm him. Wasn't that the point of the cages? "Well, aren't we a little feisty today?" Apparently, his actions caused a rather taunting retort in his direction, courtesy of her. Now, she sat in a cross-legged position, and a peek of a Shinigami uniform could be seen through the small beams of light directed in her cage. Her voice wasn't annoyed, just amused at the stranger sitting in front of her cage. "Well, at least you're not like the rest of 'em. They act like friggin' dolls rather than actual people, I swear..." "Well, they're all here for a reason, so they must have some kind of personality." Nori mumbled. Did she think she was better than him? The tone in her voice made Nori want to smack her. Aggression wasn't showing on his face, yet he was clenching his teeth. Nori kept his expression neutral as he awaited her response. "Are you kidding me?" The female rolled her eyes, but she allowed herself to scoot closer up to the front bars. "The only ones who are showing any type of personality are the two of us right now. Unless, you consider depression and acting like it's the end of the world an actually full personality..." "Untrue," Nori rebuttled, "In order to actually feel depressed, you need some sort of intellegence. Stupid people are ignorant to the world around them. They'd probably shrug off the fact that they're trapped in a cage, on the way to a prison where they're going to be either imprisoned or put to death, and be conversing with us right now." ... Did I just call myself stupid? Nah, nevermind, it's not possible... But the question came up again, courtesy of her next words. "Did you just call yourself stupid?" She asked, a smirk crawling to the edges of her lips. And he replied, "If I called myself stupid, it means I called you stupid too." "Oh, I'm fully aware of the fact that my death might be near." The girl said, almost in a confident manner. "It's not like I can ignore the fact that I'm in a truck that's off to a firing squad or something." "And you're not afraid?" Nori asked cautiously. He was afraid. It would hurt, he was sure. Pain wasn't necessarily a second nature to him. "Or are you just faking? You don't have lie for my sake. Your pride is no good here." In her cross-legged position, the girl put her hands on her knees. A brief set of chuckles escaped her lips, before they returned to silence themselves. Her mouth was still set in that deceptive smile, but her eyes held a rather blank look to them. It was as if she carried no emotion, and yet could still express it with ease. "Everyone has to die sometime." She said lowly. "You...me... the prisoners all around us... even if we don't meet our end by having our heart stabbed, or our throats ripped out, time will come to give the self-proclaimed invincibles a good ol' kick in the ass. I ain't afraid of something that's natural." Nori narrowed his eyes, anger flaring inside of him. She was so cocky! It made him want to scream. Unfortunately, that would only lead to his own humiliation. He could already imagine her laughing at him for letting his anger show. An infant could see through the smile he directed back at her. "Good for you. You get to die with a smile on your face." he muttered. The woman tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and laughed. "Oh, you make a very poor facade, honey." She said teasingly, opening her eyes again to give him a look of amusement. One of her hands raised themselves to her ear. "I can practically hear your blood boiling right now." Looking away, he allowed a genuine smile to appear on his face. "Well, I'm not surprised they managed to capture a woman.." Nori grunted. She would get angry. All women did, when you looked down on them simply for being female. They think that just because you can't kick them in the balls that they're better than you. Unfortunately for them, a punch to the ovaries would produce cramps similar to that of a period, and a punch to the boobs would hurt like hell if he hit the nipple. Giggles ensued this line of thought. Immediately, her eyes widened in shock for a moment. Then, the smile turned into a scowl. "Oh, really?" Was all she could mutter, before pressing her earlobe for a minute. For the moment, her attention was diverted from him, and her expression was rather attentive. "Yeah, I'm in...." She muttered, pausing for brief intervals after every sentence. "Mhm...I still have it..." Nori's eye twitched. Was she ignoring him? "Yes, really." he replied, not bothering to care that the woman was mumbling to herself. If she was going to ignore him, he would just make sure it was impossible for her not to. "Uh huh... all right, gotcha. Out." When she pressed her finger into her earlobe once more, there was a small beep that sounded when she did so. She turned back towards Nori, even as she slipped what looked like two metal gauntlets out of her pocket. "So I'm a woman. Does that automatically mean I'm the bitch who needs rescuing?" She countered, the trademark smirk once again on her face. She began to slip the gauntlets onto her hands. "Not what I was implying.." Nori mumbled, slightly afraid that she was going to use those gauntlets to beat the snot out of him. "But it does mean that you're easy to defeat... Women naturally have a weaker physiology than men do.." Should I use my Demon Form? he mumbled to himself. If she was going to kill him, he could always just go down fighting. Not that she'd be able to kill him. Women were weak. Once again, the woman chuckled, obviously finding his comment humorous. "Then you're going to love it when you see what I'm like." She declared, flexing her hands that were now inside of the gauntlets. "Just as soon as I get this done..." She allowed herself to stand in the metal cage, walked up to the bars, and reached out to grip them. Immediately, surges of electricity started erupting from the bars around her hands, giving both forces a blueish glow. Immediately, the prisoners around her snapped out of their trance and looked at her in astonishment. She, however, held her look of superiority, simply gripping the bars tighter in response. "What are you doing..?" Nori asked obliviously. It was incredibly obvious she was breaking out. Intimidation swept over him. That look bothered him. If she was stronger than he was, then what was the point of being a man? But at this stage of the mission, releasing his Demon Form was prohibited. Nori sighed, feigning interest in the woman. She could have her moment. For now. "What does it look like, genius?" The woman replied, smirking. "I'm getting myself out of here... and if you're a good boy..." With one swift tug, she pulled apart the metal bars, the force snapping them in two. "You get to come along, along with the rest of these misfits." Her eyes searched around, and her feet turned and walked away from the cage. "Now, where in the hell did he say it was again...?" She muttered to herself, frowning disdainfully as she looked every which way. A good boy!? Nori was going to kill her. He would chop her up into little tiny bite-sized pieces and eat her. Then, after a semi-boring digestion period, he would finally shit her out. After he shit her out, he would take all the little shits she was now made up out of, stuff them into a small paper bag, and burn it. While sitting on a pile of what would be left of the rest of her body. But he wanted to get out... Swallowing his pride, Nori gave the woman the same fake smile he had directed at her not five minutes ago. "Sure thing. Just don't expect it to last." he said, not bothering to muster up enthusiasm. If she got him out, great! If not, then he would just get out when he arrived at the prison. "Ah! Here it is!" Abruptly, the girl stopped at what looked like a control panel. Raising both of her hands up, she went to work, fingers typing in a set of keys in order to enter some sort of code. "8....3....5...Alpha...Delta...3." She muttered to herself, before finally punching in the final button. The effect was instantaneous - the sound of a generator powering down could be heard within the cargo container. The cells of every prisoner in their cages promptly opened up, getting astonished gasps and relieved yells from them. "We're free!!" "Thank you, woman!" The girl turned away from the control panel, headed towards what looked like a large wooden box, and raised her foot, kicking it once. It promptly opened, and a variety of rifles scattered across the metal ground. "Grab a weapon and follow me." She ordered, her ears picking up the sounds of a loud alarm going off. "We'll be fighting our way out of this little prison." She herself reached in, rummaged around for a minute, and finally grabbed a sheathed sword from the pile. She walked away, allowing the rest of them to immediately scatter around the weapons. Now, her gaze was on Nori again. "Now, what were you saying about women having a weaker physiology than men...?" She asked smugly. Nori's expression was illegible. "Pressing buttons does not constitute a stronger physiology." he growled, stepping out of the cage. He offered no thanks; she didn't deserve any. The amusement she recieved from making fun of him while he was imprisoned could be taken as her payment for freeing him. Hesitating slightly, Nori picked up a rifle from the pile... And proceeded to aim it at the back of the woman's head. "Say something now. I dare you." he prodded, nudging her slightly with the muzzle. Her body froze in place. She craned her head slightly, just enough so that she could see his eyes. But, just to humor the man, she remained silent, her blank eyes just staring at him, waiting for him to make another move. Behind him, the prisoners had their eyes widened, and some of them even had their rifles leveled towards him nervously, fearing for their savior's death. "What? What's the matter?" he taunted, poking the back of her head yet again. Her eyes bothered him.. They made him tense slightly. She said before that she wasn't afraid of death. So why wasn't she saying anything now? Finger twitching on the trigger, Nori actually began having second thoughts about killing the woman. She, however, didn't need words for her next move. With the pivot as graceful as a ballerina, she twisted her body around, out of the gun's immediate firing line. Then, with the agility of a soldier, she grabbed his wrist with both hands, twisted it a little, and turned herself right back around, throwing him to the ground via the use of close-quarters combat. His rifle was lost in the process, and she snatched it from the air. The smirk was still on her face. "Now, didn't I tell you to be a good boy?" She asked. "Killing me should be the farthest thing from your mind right now. I'd focus that aggression on the solders that're coming onto this position right now... if you don't mind." She's... looking down on me! Everyone is looking down on me! I'll kill them all...! In spite of himself, Nori stood, and abruptly snatched the rifle back out of her hands. It wasn't going to happen.. at least not until he got his zanpakuto back. Then he could have all the fun he wanted. "I'm fully capable of killing them without your assistance." he hissed, turning away from her. He didn't need to see that smirk any longer. The woman frowned, closing her eyes and shaking her head sagely. She folded her arms across her chest. "Suit yourself. But if you had a sword of your own... and you look like you'd own one... it'd be in the box with the rifle you picked up." She called suggestively. She hooked her own sheathed sword to her waist, walking past him towards the door that sealed them from the outside. With a lift of the leg, she kicked it open, revealing the prison camp itself in all of its glory. She leaped out, and the prisoners were eager to follow her, eager to see freedom once more. With a large Snap! the rifle was torn in half. Throwing away it's remains, he threw the other rifles around restlessly until he finally found Nasuka. "Bitch.. Probably on her period... all them always are." he grumbled, taking the cord connected to Nasuka's sheath and slinging it over his shoulder, making sure to angle it so that the hilt was present directly beside his right ear. Finally, he lept out of the truck after her. The sunlight was blinding. It was annoying. He wouldn't be able to see properly without squinting until his eyes adjusted. But now he had his Zanpakuto, and he could kill them all! Unsheathing it, and repeating his actions from before, he pointed it at the back of the woman's head. She heard the click of the sword. Now she was becoming slightly annoyed, the smile fading from her face. It was replaced by a scowl once more, but she didn't turn around this time. "Are we really going to keep doing this?" She asked, emitting a heavy sigh of exasperation. "No." Nori admitted, "We're just going to do it one more time, so I can kill you because you're such a self-absorbed bitch and leave." Ignoring the fact that she had just freed him, and everybody else, and gave them the means to kill their captors and escape, Nori actually dared to call her a self-absorbed female dog. The scowl immediately twisted into her own and almost feral sneer, which he couldn't see. "You really think you can kill me?" She said, calmly. But this time, even her own voice held its very own malevolence in it, a threatening tone that increased the tension of the situation. "Too many people have attempted to do that before. I don't think you'd be any different." Nori flinched, but quickly shook it off. Sure he could win! "I'm assuming that answer makes you think that you can kill me." he retorted uneasily, pulling Nasuka back towards himself. In all honesty, that wasn't a very good position to put himself in. There was nearly no way to defend. She turned her head to look at him. Now, the malevolence was clear. Her eyes were narrowed in a venemous look in his direction, and that smirk had gained a more dangerous look to it. "I could..." She muttered, hand on the hilt of her own sword. "Like I said, no one is invincible." Disturbance! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a squad of soldiers coming up from the rear, crouching down and lowering their guns at the group. Another squad came from the front, following their comrades' actions. In this way, they had the entire group surrounded. "You are hereby under contempt of law enforcement!" One soldier shouted. "Drop your weapons and place your hands in the air!!!" Nori immediately burned up the same way he had done on his first confrontation, and disapeared from sight. Bursting from a faint red outline behind the first squad that had entered, he laughed. How easy this would be! Taking his unsheathed Zanpakuto and driving it through the neck of the soldier directly in front of him, then kicking the now-dead body off of Nasuka at another of it's former comrades, he began his work. The other ones reacted immediately. They separated into two different groups in order to keep the man surrounded, all the meanwhile unleashing the fire they had kept up in their guns. On the other side, the prisoners had taken cover and were locked an intense firefight with the other squadron, trying their best to keep them pinned. The only question was now: where was Tereya? It was easy to answer. Like a tiger pouncing upon prey, she appeared in the air, descending towards Nori and the soldiers attempting to take him down. It was a clear ambush, and the side she was aiming for never saw it coming. The force of her landing was brought down upon the chest of one of the soldiers with a sickening crack. They backed away, raising their rifles towards her immediately. But, they couldn't stop the second life from being taken; with a lift of her leg, she kicked another soldier in the chin, the force snapping his neck into pieces. Then, she charged towards the remaining ones, eyes widened in primal excitement as she took her sword to them. It was a dance of lights. She dodged every single shot that was fired upon her, and with lightning-speed steps, she closed the gap between herself and her quarry in a matter of what was seconds. Her sword swung and slashed, cutting every throat, every chest open that dared to stand in her way. She spilled their blood without remorse onto the cold ground, leaving one's corpse to rot on the surface while she hunted for another. For her, it was nothing normal. And yet, it was too far estastic. Nori, who was far from incapacitated, allowed himself to be taken over by his anger. She had made fun of him. She had humiliated him. She had stolen his prey! And now she was going to die, whether it was at the hands of Nasuka, or by a trigger-happy guard that happened to spectate the battle that was about to begin and couldn't sit and watch in awe. Actually using shunpo instead of kogeru, Nori appeared before Tereya, blade drawn. Positioning himself in an offensive stance, he lunged for her stomach. He could almost imagine the feeling of bifuricating her. It would be wonderful!